Volume 9 — PLATE DXCIV. PLECTRANTHUS BARBATUS. Bearded Plectranthus.

CLASS XIV. ORDER I.

DIDYNAMIA GYMNOSPERMIA. Four unequal Stamens. Naked Seeds.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx laciniâ summâ majore. Corolla resupinata, ringens; tubo sursùm gibbo vel calcarato.

Cup with the upper division largest. Blossom lying on its back, gaping; tube with a spur above or swelled out.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Plectranthus racemis bracteatis, bracteis deciduis; foliis ovatis, crenatis, pubescentibus, rugosis, per petioles decurrentibus: corollæ labio superiore emarginato brevissimo; inferiore subovato, concavo, hirsuto.

Plectranthus with bracts to the bunches, bracts falling off: the leaves oval, scolloped, downy and wrinkled, running down the footstalks; the upper lip of the blossom short, and slightly notched; the lower nearly ovate, compressed and hairy.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

The stem of Plectranthus is four-sided with blunt corners, and woolly. The leaves are fleshy, minutely dotted on both sides, and border their footstalks down to the stem. The flower-stalks, the lower part of the cups, and under lip of the blossom, are set with stiff clear bristles. The tube of the blossom is without a spur, and swelled on the upper side. Every part of the plant has a powerful fragrance. The specimens were communicated in November by Mr. Giddings, gardener to Lord Valentia at Arley; with a letter stating, that he raised the plants from Abyssinian seeds sent home by his Lordship about four years ago, and that they grow at Arley to about two feet in height, and thrive with the common treatment of stove plants.

The first species known of this genus, Plectranthus punctatus, the Ocymum punctatum of Linnæus, was also brought from Abyssinia by the celebrated Bruce.